Melbourne

alanscc

Traveling with Tauck to Australia/New Zealand from march to April. Arriving in Melbourne a few days early and were planning on doing a tour of the great ocean road. Looking for recommendations of a good day tour and if anyone else will be arriving in Melbourne before our March 14 Tauck tour begins and if anyone else would like to join us on this outing.

CatLover8

There are several prior threads on this subject, which will give you several suggestions and lots of details. Two of the most popular choices are to go see the fairy penguins (sunset) and to do a tour of the Great Ocean Road. We had to choose one and we opted for The Great Ocean Road with The Private Tour Guide. No regrets. I highly recommend them and the tour. We arrived one day early and spent arrival day adjusting. We did the Great Ocean Rd tour the next day- the same day as Tauck's welcome reception. The Great Ocean Road Tour is about an 11 hr day due to 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive one way from Melbourne. A private car picked the 4 of us up at 6 a.m. and drove and toured us all day and got us back about 5 p.m., so we could change clothes prior to the Tauck welcome reception. Timing was absolutely fine. Check out their website. You see the iconic "Twelve Apostles" limestone stacks and much, much more.

MCD

I know a lot of people have used Private Tour Guide, but I was traveling solo, and the Private Tour Guide would have cost me between $900 - $1,000, so I opted for one of the all day tours from Viator that cost less than $200. It was fine. I just checked the website for Viator, and, unfortunately, can't tell which tour I took, but I was picked up at our hotel (the Langham), and taken to the central bus meeting point where I changed to the bus that actually went out to the Great Ocean Rd. We made a morning rest stop at a chocolate shop, a stop for lunch (on our own) in Apollo Bay, went to the 12 Apostles site, Loch Ard Gorge, and Fort Campbell. The bus returned to the central bus terminal, and I was driven back from there to the Langham. If you have enough people to make the Private Tour Guide cost-effective, it's probably the better option; however, I was happy with my choice.

cvc

We took the Grand Australia/New Zealand trip in the fall of 2017. We arrived early and booked the Great Ocean Road Tour through Go West Tours. It was a small group tour - I believe there were about 12 of us. We were very pleased with the day - it is long, but the scenery is beautiful. We were picked up and dropped off at our hotel. Their website lists the current per person price at $135.

Aussie Helen

Hi, I’m from Melbourne, great Ocean Road a great tour as is Phillip Island and the fairy penguins. If seeing the penguins book the best viewing area, worth it. A free day could be, start at federation Square and visit Ian Potter Gallery, Australian paintings, walk down to the Shrine of Remembrance then back to the Gardens. Tauck sometimes take you to the Shrine. There is an Escher Nero exhibition on at the Art Gallery. I hear the Vic Market is the favourite place for Americans to visit. Some Australian live shows/ Theatre May be interesting too. Enjoy.

36willowparkway

alanscc wrote:

Traveling with Tauck to Australia/New Zealand from march to April. Arriving in Melbourne a few days early and were planning on doing a tour of the great ocean road. Looking for recommendations of a good day tour and if anyone else will be arriving in Melbourne before our March 14 Tauck tour begins and if anyone else would like to join us on this outing.

36willowparkway

Three of us will arriving in Melbourne a day before the trip. We might be interested in doing The Great Ocean Road Trip. Let me know if you get any further details about these tours. I saw one response where they were picked up at 6 in the morning and brought back in time for the Tauck greeting dinner. By the way, we will be on the same tour as you.

36willowparkway

36willowparkway wrote:

We are definitely interested in doing the day trip - Great Ocean Drive and Twelve Apostles. It looks to me that it would be wise to book asap as they the various tours are selling out on certain dates. I was looking at a Viator tour - has anyone researched others? Suggestions? March 14th tour - arriving on the 13th so we would be booking for the day of the 14th - arriving back in time for the Tauck dinner.

36willowparkway

36willowparkway wrote:

Three of us will arriving in Melbourne a day before the trip. We might be interested in doing The Great Ocean Road Trip. Let me know if you get any further details about these tours. I saw one response where they were picked up at 6 in the morning and brought back in time for the Tauck greeting dinner. By the way, we will be on the same tour as you.

How many people do we need to do a private tour cost effectively?

CatLover8

36willowparkway - We booked with The Private Tour Guide and pre-selected the fixed hourly rate option for 10-11 hours for car and driver. We paid for our coffees and lunch meat pies ourselves. Their cost came to something less than $800 USD. Since we had 4 people, it was less than $200 per person. Very comfortable car. Very knowledgeable tour guide/driver. They were also very flexible about an early pick up time at the Langham Hotel so we could make sure to get back in time for Tauck welcome reception

alanscc

36willowparkway
We look forward to meeting you on the tour

we are doing the ocean road tour a day prior to you

we will probably do the Grayline tour..
hotel recommended for seating comfort and on board bathroom
(although larger group and more pricey then others.)

alanscc

36willowparkway
We look forward to meeting you on the tour

we are doing the ocean road tour a day prior to you

we will probably do the Grayline tour..
hotel recommended for seating comfort and on board bathroom
(although larger group and more pricey then others.)